Chapter 712: Great Leaf's Sword Rune
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The sky turned a faint shade of red. That red was like the red hue of autumn, and when a person looked at it, they would find a desolate air surrounding the sky.
Blood was thick on the ground. When it spread out, a bloody stench rose into the air, either exciting or making puke those who smelled it. This was not hell but more like the underworld.
And the spring water flowing in the rivers of this underworld were blood.
Hidden Dragon Sect… was eliminated from the land of Berserkers.
Besides a thousand something people kneeling on the ground submissively while trembling, choosing to change their blood inheritance to live, all the other manner of living in the sect… had died.
They died miserably and did not put up too much of a resistance or struggle. No one who tried to fight back could survive the charge from a four hundred thousand man army… especially since this was going to be the place where Man Ya's tribe was going to live in the future. To prevent any unfortunate incidents from happening, he had his tribe seal the area so that no disciples of Hidden Dragon Sect could manage to run away.
Su Ming did not participate in this battle. He stood silently in midair and watched the bloody fight playing out before his eyes. Shrill screams of pain reached his ears, and along with them came an endless amount of curses until those who shouted them were killed.
When Su Ming saw and heard everything, the confusion and alertness in his eyes interlaced with each other. He stood in midair and did not move.
Nan Gong Hen protected Su Ming silently. The other Fated Kin were scattered around them as well. If anyone from Hidden Dragon Sect rushed towards them, they would immediately turn into icy snow that symbolized death and delivered it.
"People will eventually die… They will walk from life to death, moving from spring to winter… However, the color of autumn is still too dull," Su Ming mumbled softly.
When night arrived and the moon hung high in the sky, overlooking the shattered towers, the aura of death from Hidden Dragon Sect surged into the sky. That aura of death spread out and filled the air.
From then on, Hidden Dragon Sect no longer existed in that place. Instead, it had become the place where Man Ya's tribe would grow and prosper.
A large amount of Hidden Dragon Sect's resources was dug up. Man Ya and the other four broke open the endless amount of seals in the place, and all the doors to the cave abodes were thrown open. The vast amount of resources was enough to quicken the breathing of anyone who saw it.
There were large amounts of spirit stones, an infinite amount of medicinal cores, vast numbers of ancient scrolls, as well as huge quantities of materials required to create and refine Enchanted Vessels. All of these things represented just how rich Hidden Dragon Sect had been and how deep their power laid.
Even if Sky Mist Dao had an equal amount of fame as Hidden Dragon Sect in the Immortals' galaxy, when the Berserkers destroyed the sect and searched through the place, the items they found there were only a third of what Hidden Dragon Sect possessed.
Su Ming did not take too many of these items. He gave most of them away to the big tribes in Eastern Wastelands as a reward to serve as important resources for them to grow powerful.
Seven days later, when Evil Spirit Sect was invaded by the Berserkers' army, they resisted for half a day before all the sect's Runes were broken. Then, the entire sect became history in the land of Berserkers.
Besides a select few and several hundreds of those who chose to submit to survive, all of the others in the sect… died.
Blood flowed down the mountain of Evil Spirit Sect. Shrill screams of pain and booming sounds continued reverberating in the area as the Berserkers waged war on them.
Shen Dong did not die, and neither did the girl who Su Ming had controlled with his Art using the doll in the past. They had instead been asked to leave politely, due to Su Ming's orders.
Besides these people, everyone in Evil Spirit Sect was killed off, and the place became the new location of Tian Qi's clan.
After five more days, Evil Lust Sect chose to destroy their Runes once the hundreds of thousands of Berserkers arrived. This sort of destruction brought forth a madness that spread a hundred thousand lis in the world. There might have been quite a few who were unwilling to do so in Evil Lust Sect, but in the end, they could not prevent this sort of death. In the mid of a bang that reverberated through the entire Eastern Wastelands, Evil Lust Sect and the place where it was built turned into dust. A large number of Berserkers also died because of this.
The number of deaths they suffered surpassed the numbers they lost when they were in Sky Mist Dao. However, these deaths only served to stimulate the madness within the Berserkers' blood. With it, the Berserker army rushed towards Evil Immortal Sect.
Once the Rune to the entrance eventually crumbled and the Berserkers were about to kill all the people of Evil Immortal Sect, an incredibly dramatic event happened.
Internal strife tore apart the people of Evil Immortal Sect. At the time the Rune shattered, half of the people in the Sect had already died due to that strife, and the remaining thousands knelt down and worshipped the incoming Berserkers. They were willing to change their blood inheritances and become slaves; they had chosen submission.
As of then, all the Immortal's sects were destroyed one by one in Eastern Wastelands, only one remained - Great Leaf Immortal Sect!
The sects that had been destroyed turned into the spots where the big tribes who had followed Su Ming in Eastern Wastelands would be located. These places belonged to Xue Sha, Tian Qi, and the others. There were also the matter of the half Berserker and half Immortal subordinates. These people had changed their blood inheritance to stay within the Immortal sects. They had once been Berserkers, but had now become oddities.
For the first time, conflict rose among the big Berserker tribes because they were in disagreement of how they should deal with these people.
Some believed that they had a right to live. After all, many of these people were once members of their own tribes, and some of them were even their family.
However, there were an even larger number of Berserkers who despised them. They believed that these Berserkers had betrayed them, and they had to use their blood to wash away the humiliation they had brought to their race.
No consensus could be reached for this conflict with many different voices and opinions. In the end, Su Ming made a decision regarding this matter.
The Berserkers who had betrayed their own kind were quite numerous. They had to receive punishment, and that punishment was that they had to be the vanguards in the army as they went to chase out the outsiders in the Alliance of the Western Region and Northern Province.
Once they killed a sufficient amount of outsiders, they would use their battle achievements to earn the right to return to the Berserkers. If they did not die, then they could still be a Berserker and return to worship the God of Berserkers.
This decision was not completely accepted by all the Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance, and those who could not accept it became part of the autumn in the world.
Under this brutal slaughter, besides one particular region in Eastern Wastelands, all other parts of the continent returned to the Berserkers once again, and a gathering that would lead them across the Dead Sea towards the Alliance of the Western Region as well as Northern Province was held as the big tribes began their operations.
Crossing the Dead Sea, especially in a scale where millions of people would go, was something that had never happened since the land of Berserkers was split into five continents. This grand thing attracted the attention of all Berserkers, exciting them.
Besides Su Ming and a select few others, most of the Berserkers could not travel through the Dead Sea just by flying alone. That was why they needed an endless amount of ships that could traverse the Dead Sea.
As the entire Eastern Wastelands began preparations, Su Ming brought with him the Fated Kin to the spot of Great Leaf Immortal Sect.
It was the only Immortal sect remaining in Eastern Wastelands. Su Ming chose not to let any Berserkers attack this place: He would go alone and destroy Great Leaf Immortal Sect.
Because this sect was Di Tian's sect.
Great Leaf Immortal Sect was a huge mountain that towered into the clouds. The mountain looked like a gigantic sword that stood erect on the ground. It was a terrifying sight to behold, for people were like ants compared to it.
Perhaps Great Leaf Immortal Sect was not like this in the past. However, as of then, the sect before Su Ming's eyes was this mountain - a sword that wanted to charge into the sky!
Waves of sword aura spread out and filled an area of ten thousand lis. All manner of life that stepped into this region would have to suffer the attacks from that sword aura.
"Respected Senior Mo, let us Fated Kin go with you." Nan Gong Hen stood beside Su Ming. Right behind him were the hundreds of Fated Kin that had come with him. All of these people had zealousness on their faces as they looked at Su Ming and waited for his orders.
Su Ming shook his head. He looked at the hundreds of Fated Kin, and a smile appeared on his face. He turned around and took a step towards that region. At the instant his foot landed, sword aura surged into the sky. Piercing whistling sounds echoed in the air, and hundreds of sword auras appeared out of nowhere, charging straight towards Su Ming.
At the instant he took his third step, booming sounds reverberated in the air, and all the sword auras came at Su Ming. However, their arrival could not stop him in the slightest. When the sword auras were a hundred feet from Su Ming, it was as if they had crashed into a barrier that made them unable to continue onward, and all of them shattered.
A nine-colored screen of light manifested swiftly a hundred feet away from Su Ming. That screen of light was spreading out from a square seal floating above Su Ming's head, and it was Su Ming's Enchanted Treasure - the Five Direction Seal!
Since his level of cultivation had increased and he had stayed in the Eastern Wastelands Tower for the duration of a year, he had had time to refine this Five Direction Seal in his body. At this moment, he could already control this seal somewhat and even make it send out the nine-colored screen of light.
The hundreds of Fated Kin watched their Respected Senior Mo walking into the distance. As he walked further and further away, getting closer to Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain, the hundreds of sword auras coming towards him from all directions increased to thousands.
Those thousands of sword auras covered the world and charged towards Su Ming with a bitter and grim air. However, none of them could pass through his nine-colored screen of light. When Su Ming activated that extreme speed of his and shot up like a long arc to fly towards the Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain, the thousands of sword auras erupted with a bang and turned into tens of thousands of sword auras that charged towards him from all directions.
Right behind those tens of thousands of sword auras were another batch of them, just as large. It was as if those sword auras were limitless, and as booming sounds surged into the sky, Su Ming's body could no longer be seen clearly. He was hidden away by the limitless sword auras.
At the moment he was less than a thousand lis away from the mountain of Great Leaf Immortal Sect, and the entire region of Great Leaf Immortal Sect let out a deafening roar. Nine huge cracks suddenly tore through the ground under that boom, and nine shocking waves of sword aura shot out from the cracks with a bang. The presence of those nine waves of sword aura were incredibly strong, and they even gained the form of swords once they appeared. At the instant they took shape, they charged towards Su Ming.
At the same time, nearly a hundred thousand sword auras appeared out of nowhere in the world and surrounded the nine waves of sword aura that seemed to have gained physical form as they charged towards Su Ming.
With a look of indifference, Su Ming lifted his right hand at the instant the sword aura closed in and seized the air. Then, the killing sword flashing with a golden light appeared in his hand.
A fierce glare flashed in Su Ming's eyes once he held the sword in his hand.
"Can a sword that is not held in a hand still be considered a sword?" he asked flatly, then thrust the killing sword forward.
Chapter 713: The Sword in the Hand
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The inheritance Su Ming obtained from Hong Luo regarding the use of swords was different from how the Immortals used swords to fly. His method was even older and almost clumsy. It was not as agile as a flying sword, which was why Hong Luo had not delved deep into it after he had obtained it by pure chance.
However, Su Ming was incredibly interested in this method to use swords. This ancient method adhered to using one's hand to hold onto a sword. Only when a sword was in a person's hand could it truly become a sharp tool for the sword wielder.
With the killing sword shining with golden light, Su Ming's casually thrust forward, and the sword sliced through the air as it went forward, a large suction force swiftly erupting from within it.
This was not the sword's power itself. Su Ming slightly conformed with some form of law in the world as he thrust forward and triggered some strange changes, which made the place where the sword passed through the center of the area. It then sent all forms of existences, even divine senses, tumbling forward into the sword's path.
At that instant, the hundreds of thousands of sword auras distorted and changed their direction, charging towards the sword in Su Ming's hand. It was as if the sword's path had turned into a black hole that could devour everything.
However, the nine waves of sword aura that had gained form and now looked nearly physical after they flew out of the cracks in the ground only let out piercing sword whistles as they scattered slightly before transitioning from being mere illusions to something corporeal. They did not change their direction and charged at Su Ming, coming less than a hundred feet away from him within an instant. The nine swords closed in on him at the same time, spreading out waves of powerful pressure that made it seem as if they could destroy anything.
Right after that one thrust, Su Ming loosened his grip around the killing sword with a calm expression. He did not hold the sword in a tight grip. Instead, at the instant the nine swords closed in on him, he flicked his wrist, and with his wrist acting as the axle, he swung the killing sword from the left to the right, then from up to down, before he swung it around himself in a circle!
If anyone looked over, they would see that as the sword in Su Ming's hand swerved around him, a circular slash formed by an endless amount of vertical sword illusions manifested due to his movements.
It looked like a circular slash, but if that anyone looked again, they would find that it was a method to use swords that would form a sword formation. It looked as if it had formed a sword shield that stood before Su Ming to protect him. The nine flying swords coming towards him instantly crashed into it.
Sounds of swords clashing into each other rose into the air. Eventually, a resounding boom spread outwards, and the nine swords that had gained physical form shattered and fell back, turning into smoke and scattering away.
Su Ming stood his ground with a calm expression. The sword in his hand drew a beautiful arc that went diagonally from his left side to his feet. A freezing glint shone in his eyes, and a wave of murderous aura appeared in his gaze.
That murderous aura and the motion of Su Ming swinging that sword diagonally from his left looked as if he was storing up power.
It was like the calm before a storm, like the quiet before a volcano erupted, like an ancient ferocious beast that would spread out an extreme, aggressive air that surged into the sky the instant before it devoured the world.
During that instant, all activities in the world showed signs of stopping, and an indescribable, oppressive air surrounded the area without any sound. The source of all of this was naturally Su Ming bringing his sword downwards.
"There are thirteen styles to use swords, but I've only come to understand four, flicking, thrusting, swirling, and slicing… but it's enough to break this Rune." At the instant Su Ming said these words in a flat voice, the sword that was held diagonally to his lower left side was brought swiftly to his upper right side.
A clear sword mark traveled from his lower left side to his upper right side as the world boomed. This was slicing. With the sword's sharpness, it would slice apart all barriers that blocked its path.
At the instant Su Ming swung his sword, the world rumbled. The swing contained some change in the world's laws, and at the instant Su Ming sliced upwards, an excited sword whistle traveled out from the killing sword. There was a wave of agitation and excitement within that whistle. It was the sword's complete acknowledgment, because this method was the only correct way to allow a sword to erupt forth with a power that could shake the sky and earth!
If it was a flying sword, then it would be impossible to execute this slicing technique, since no one was holding onto the sword. Besides thrusting and slashing, it would not have the intelligence to execute anything else.
The killing sword had a spirit. It had been suppressed by Su Ming earlier and forced to submit to him, but clearly, there had been defiance within that submission, and the sword had been waiting to turn against Su Ming. Yet at that instant, as the sword whistle traveled forward, the spirit within the killing sword truly acknowledged Su Ming, because it had been able to sense that when Su Ming held it in his hand, the three actions of thrusting, swirling, and slicing had allowed it to burst forth with its complete power, and it was a power that surpassed what it possessed.
This power made it tremble with excitement. This power made it feel as if it had gone through a cleansing, and a faint feeling of an epiphany blossomed within it: It was a sword, and this was how it should be like.
The world roared. When Su Ming sliced through the air, a diagonal sword mark tore through the space before him. That tear traveled forward with a bang, and wherever it went, the world would be torn apart, the air would shatter, and as the crack grew larger, it swept through a thousand lis before it landed on Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain. An even louder bang rang into the air, and the sword mark from that one slice shot through Great Leaf Immortal Sect.
It shot through the sword-shaped mountain and charged towards the area behind it. As it continued spreading, it eventually turned into a crack in the world that was several tens of thousands of feet long. It went straight through the Sword Rune that surrounded Great Leaf Immortal Sect and created a large gap in it.
Once that gap appeared, the Sword Rune that protected the mountain where Great Leaf Immortal Sect was located crumbled around it. The Rune turned into an endless amount of sword fragments that fell backwards in all directions while stirring up a violent gust of wind that swept up to the nine heavens. A violent boom that shook the entire area shot up into the air.
The sword-shaped mountain that belonged to Great Leaf Immortal Sect shuddered, and its center started slanting as that booming sound rang in the air. When half of the mountain fell to the left and crashed down, the ground trembled, and a loud sound surged into the sky.
Waves of dust rose up and spread through the area. Su Ming's hair and robes moved due to the wind, but his expression did not change. With the killing sword in hand, he looked over coldly.
At that moment, half of Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain had been sliced off. The surface where it had been cut off was incredibly smooth, and that part was naturally where Su Ming's sword mark had passed through!
The sword-shaped mountain was broken!
The killing sword in Su Ming's hand was trembling and letting out excited cries. Murderous aura spread out from its tip, as if it was thirsting for blood and hoping to drink it for eternity.
"Swords are primary killing tools."
Su Ming lifted his head and looked towards the broken Great Leaf Immortal Sect mountain before he walked over slowly. On this day, he would destroy a sect by himself and save his second senior brother from Great Leaf Immortal Sect.
Fated Kin were looking at their Respected Senior Mo excitedly from the back. The might of that sword just now had shook the sky and earth. It was enough to shake the hearts of all those who witnessed it.
Su Ming's footsteps seemed slow, but in truth, with every step he took forward, his body would appear a little faded. When his form became clear again, he would already be a thousand feet away. It was fine for those looking at him from the back, they would not be in too much discomfort because of what they saw, but if anyone looked at him while he was walking towards them, they would immediately feel dizzy.
Because even though they would see Su Ming tens of thousands of feet away, in the blink of an eye, he would be much closer, making them think that their eyes were deceiving them. The surroundings did not move, but Su Ming's body would suddenly turn into an illusion, then gain clarity just as abruptly, instantly causing all Immortals who were staring at him to feel dizzy.
By the time they felt this dizziness, Su Ming was already standing at the foot of the remaining half of Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain. He lifted his head and looked at the broken sword-shaped mountain. Then he took a deep breath.
As Su Ming breathed in, layers of snow fell down from the sky above Great Leaf Immortal Sect. Each flake exuded an endless amount of freezing air, and in the blink of an eye, everything within a circular area of ten thousand lis was covered in snow.
That snow was very dense. When it landed on the ground, it looked like a gigantic seal from the distance that sealed Great Leaf Immortal Sect within!
This was the Art Su Ming created in Life Cultivation Realm - Midwinter's Chill.
With this Art, he could seal off all directions, preventing all Immortals within Great Leaf Immortal Sect from escaping, turning this place into a cage!
"I have come here today… to destroy Great Leaf Immortal Sect," Su Ming stated languidly. As his voice reverberated in the air, the echoes of his words seemed to be faintly passing through the endless snow around him. Once these sounds fused together, they turned into a roar that sounded as if it came from heaven itself, shaking the area so much that the remaining half of Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain was wrecked by tremors.
At the time Su Ming said these words, he lifted his foot and walked forward, onto the stairs leading to Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain. At the instant his foot landed, an infinite amount of sword aura erupted from Great Leaf Immortal Sect with a bang, and two thousand long arcs flew out.
Within these two thousand long arcs were two thousand Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples. All of their eyes were crimson red. As they charged forward, they rushed towards Su Ming along with the sword aura.
As roars echoed in the air, even more Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples flew out from behind the two thousand and charged towards Su Ming.
The sword in Su Ming's hand whistled. It thirsted to have blood dye its blade red, and that thirst made the killing sword tremble violently. Its whistling seemed to be pleading for Su Ming to let it kill to its fill.
Su Ming looked at the thousands of people coming towards him, and the chill in his eyes grew colder. He lifted his foot and took another step forward. As he moved, the stairs behind him instantly shattered and turned into ashes.
No unnecessary words were said. When he took that one step forward, the thousands of Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples closed on him. Su Ming swung the sword in his hand forward, and a head flew up swiftly, bringing with it a wave of fresh blood, dyeing the tip of the sword red.
With a couple thrusts and one swing outwards, several heads more immediately flew up. Once their blood covered Su Ming and Immortals' vision, Su Ming took his third, fourth, and fifth steps…
He walked calmly upwards. There was an endless number of Immortals by his side, along with waves of sword aura booming around him. He did not stop waving the sword in his hand. As the sword spirit let out excited and bloodthirsty whistles, heads fell on the ground and rolled down to the foot of the mountain.
Chapter 714: The Two Prejudiced Extremities
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming did not know how many people he killed. He had taken three hundred steps. An endless wave of sword aura charged towards him with loud booming sounds, but as he brandished the killing sword in his hand, those waves of sword aura disintegrated. At the same time, more heads flew into the sky, with blood and shrill screams of pain.
Su Ming's body was red. It was the color of blood. It was the blood of Great Leaf Immortal Sect's disciples. The killing sword in his hand was red. The entire Great Leaf Immortal Sect mountain had turned red.
The three hundred steps behind Su Ming had already shattered, as if they represented his will and determination. Wherever he went, all lives would shatter, just like the stones on the stairs.
Blood flowed down the mountain. A thick bloody stench filled the area, and even the snow in all directions looked as if it was about to be dyed red.
Su Ming walked forward calmly. As the tip of his sword sliced through the air, a teenager that did not seem to have even hit his twenties had his head separated from his body right before Su Ming. There was confusion and anguish in his eyes as he fell to the side.
"There is no grudge between us, but you should not have been a part of Great Leaf Immortal Sect," Su Ming whispered softly, then seized the area beside him with his left hand. Immediately, a person who had transformed into a rainbow-colored phoenix with a divine ability right beside him was seized by the throat as Su Ming's left hand shot through her divine ability.
She was a woman with a beautiful face, but there was not an ounce of pity within Su Ming for her plight. The chill in his left hand surged into her body, shattering her throat as she trembled in despair. A destructive power rushed into her body and disintegrated her Nascent Divinity.
Su Ming let go and took a step forward.
There was no right or wrong to this, neither was there good or evil. There were only different choices made under two different viewpoints. Great Leaf Immortal Sect was Di Tian's sect, and this determined Great Leaf Immortal Sect's fate.
In Su Ming's mind, there was no such thing as searching for the instigator alone to solve a problem. It was his aloof attitude that made him destroy an entire sect when someone in it provoked him. His thoughts were extreme and biased. It was a merciless attitude towards his enemies.
It did not matter whether it was Hidden Dragon Sect, Sky Mist Dao, or even Evil Sect. Su Ming had almost never attacked or contributed to the destruction of these sects. Most of it was done by the Berserkers' crazed slaughter. The only time he did not bring them was now, when he came to Great Leaf Immortal Sect. Even Fated Kin had been ordered to wait outside for him.
Because the hatred Su Ming harbored for Great Leaf Immortal Sect was so great that he would regret it if there was a single person that did not die in his hands.
Due to his hate for one person, Su Ming grew to hate all those related to his opponent by blood and every single person in his sect. Perhaps this was not right, but in his memories, before he was sent to Yin Death Region, there was his little sister's voice in the endless darkness. He remembered the feeling of all the people surrounding him and his sister to devour and absorb the presence within their bodies. It made his little sister increasingly weaker and caused him to become prejudiced.
'I helped Berserkers because my soul is here, because my Master and senior brothers are Berserkers, because the beautiful moments in my memories are my most precious treasures, even if they are fake.
'In those memories there is a mountain. That mountain, the people there… the traditions, customs, and everything else belongs to Berserkers. That is why… I will help Berserkers. Even if I don't admit to being the God of Berserkers, I can help them make the Berserkers rise in power.'
Nostalgia flashed in Su Ming's eyes. He swung the sword in his hand and took another few steps forward. There were already several thousands of heads behind him, but this battle had not ended.
Because Su Ming treasured his memories and because the people in the ninth summit were Berserkers, he would contribute for the entire race. This was just how his character was.
On the other side of this extreme personality was the reason for Su Ming's current massacre. Due to his hate for one person, he could hate his entire sect, and if he was going to kill, he would kill till not even a single blade of grass was left.
"All of you should not have entered Great Leaf Immortal Sect."
Su Ming shook his head. He swept the blood-red sword in his hand sideways and with one move entered the top of the remaining half of Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain. The one swing from the blood-red killing sword caused several dozens of heads to fly into the air. Flesh blood filled the area and dyed all the snow in the air nearby.
"Su Ming!"
At the instant Su Ming stepped onto the top of the remaining half of the mountain, a furious roar traveled into the air before him. That voice… belonged to Beiling.
He held a sword in his hand. He was trembling and his eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Su Ming. There were complicated feelings as well as hate in his eyes. Chenxin was standing by his side quietly, and there was a vacant and dull look on her face.
Beiling stared at Su Ming and shouted loudly, "Must you kill everyone?! Must you destroy the entire Great Leaf Immortal Sect?!"
Su Ming lifted his foot and walked onto the final step under him to stand at the top of the remaining half of the mountain. At that moment, a crack appeared on the final step on the stars. However, it did not shatter. This was… the first step that did not shatter completely after he walked past it.
"If your answer is yes, then kill me and my wife so that we won't have to be filled with grief and indignation for watching our fellow sect members die! Go on! I won't retaliate! Attack me!" Beiling threw away the sword in his hand, and as he shouted… tears fell down from the corners of his eyes.
Su Ming was silent. The killing sword in his hand was spreading out killing intent on its own. The spirit that was filled with a hint of bloodthirst was like a cold gaze that was looking at the duo before it. If Su Ming had not stopped moving, it would have definitely rush in and killed these two people so that it would become more radiant with their blood.
On this day, it had been dyed with an amount of blood that it had never had before. This excited it, and in the midst of its excitement, its acknowledgment towards Su Ming also reached its peak.
"You no longer care about the past nor about the things in Dark Mountain! So kill me! Kill Chenxin, who liked you when she was young! Kill us! You won't need much time to do it! Kill us and destroy our feelings for you so that we won't miss you anymore…" Beiling roared loudly, and more tears fell from his eyes.
"Do you still remember me teaching you the bow? Do you still remember us fighting together when Dark Mountain Tribe was attacked by Black Mountain Tribe. You… Are you still the same person as you were back in Dark Mountain?!
"Can you live up to our elder's expectations?! Can you live up to the expectations of our people in Dark Mountain Tribe?! Come on, kill me!"
Beiling's words brought a sharp stab of pain to Su Ming's heart in the midst of his silence. This pain was a poison that would be stronger the more precious one's memories were to them. It was an extreme pain that tore through Su Ming's heart.
At the instant he felt that pain and slowly looked towards Beiling, Chenxin suddenly lifted her head by his side. The dull look in her eyes was replaced by a complicated expression. As tears fell from her eyes, she seemed to have made a decision, and she cried out anxiously to Su Ming, "Su Ming, go away…" But before she finished speaking, Beiling turned around and slapped her. She fell to the ground, and blood trickled down the corners of her mouth.
Almost at the moment Chenxin gave her warning, a sword suddenly came charging out like lightning from the air behind Su Ming. At the instant he was hurt by Beiling's words, it stabbed his heart.
There was a dark ball of blue flame at the tip of the sword. It was a poisonous flame that could burn souls. As long as that sword pierced a person's body, it could burn that person's soul to ashes.
That sword seemed to have been waiting for a long time ago, looking forward to the instant Su Ming's heart would tremble due to Beiling's words. At that moment, it would launch this clearly laid out assassination plan against Su Ming.
blood covered Su Ming's chest. The sword that appeared behind him penetrated his back and revealed its tip at his chest. Blood trickled down from the tip and fell on the ground, the snow covering it. It fell one drop at a time.
"Su Ming, you should not have come to Great Leaf Immortal Sect," an old voice stated from behind Su Ming. He was familiar with that voice. It was Beiling's father, Dark Mountain Tribe's Head of the Guards.
Almost at the instant he plunged that sword into Su Ming's back and said those words, Su Ming lowered his head to look at the tip of the sword, and at that moment, Beiling's expression immediately turned into ferocious look before him. As he charged forward, he appeared right in front of Su Ming. He lifted his right hand, and a black knife appeared on his palm. He stabbed it into the center of Su Ming's brows.
"Su Ming, die!"
The knife sank deep into the center of Su Ming's brows. At the same time, incantations suddenly appeared in the sky. As they reverberated in the air, groups of people swiftly appeared, and they were Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples that numbered nearly ten thousand.
They floated in midair, filling up an area of a thousand lis. With Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain as their center, they formed an incredibly huge Rune. This Rune began slowly operating as these people moved about, and as it was activated, a huge sealing force descended on the land with a bang. At the same time the sealing force spread out from the Rune, that group of people lifted the swords in their hands and cut downwards in Su Ming's direction.
The near ten thousand swords turned into a thousand feet sword as the Rune began its operations, and booming sounds surged into the sky. That sword let out a primitive, ancient air, and swiftly charged down towards Su Ming from the sky.
"You are not Dark Mountain Tribe's Bei Ling."
Su Ming did not bother himself with the sword coming from the sky. He looked at the ferocious Beiling, and as he said these words flatly, Beiling's expression suddenly changed drastically. His eyes went wide, and he saw the blade that had sunk into the center of Su Ming's brows rapidly freezing before it turned into ice within an instant. As that ice spread out, he moved to let go of his grip, but the ice covered his arm and spread swiftly to his entire body, freezing him and his Nascent Divinity into an ice statue that stood before Su Ming.
"Neither are you Dark Mountain Tribe's Head of the Guards." As Su Ming whispered softly, the tip of the sword at his chest had turned into ice. Behind him, the Head of the Guards let out a shocked cry and started rapidly retreating, but before he could even take three steps back, he froze into an ice statue, just like his son.
This was the divine ability Su Ming had created when he reached Life Cultivation Realm. He was midwinter. His Life Matrix was winter. He could bring forth the snow of midwinter and freeze everything.
Aside from those whose level of cultivation was greater than his, it was impossible for anyone to survive before him, who was now in Life Cultivation Realm.
Cracking sounds reverberated in the air. The ice statue that was Beiling retained his ferocious expression as it fell to pieces. The ice statue that was his father also shattered as the cracking sounds shot into the sky.
The knife at the center of Su Ming's brows shattered, and so did the tip of the sword at his chest.
He still did not bother with the sword descending from the sky. Instead, he looked towards Chenxin, who had blood at the corners of her lips.
"Why did you warn me?" he asked softly.
Chapter 715: The Smile He Had Not Seen for a Long Time
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A layer of red snow landed on Chenxin's face. It did not melt, but brought with it a hint of cold, just like Su Ming's words. There was the presence of a stranger within those gentle words as they fell into Chenxin's ears and entered her heart.
There was still blood flowing down the corners of Chenxin's lips. The red shade of her blood was the same as the color of snow on her face, making it hard to differentiate what was snow and what was blood.
Perhaps snow was often associated with blood because there was some form of connection between them. [1]
"There is no reason… If there is, then it's because you are Su Ming. You are… the Su Ming who grew up with me." Chenxin wiped away the blood at the corners of her mouth and looked at Su Ming. The complicated look on her face disappeared to be replaced by a hint of gentleness and a smile.
Su Ming remained silent. When he lifted his right hand, the killing sword in his hand trembled in excitement, and Su Ming swung it towards the sky. Blood light shone as if a bolt of blood-red lightning had been born in the world out of nowhere, and it charged towards the descending sword in midair.
A circular wave of impact that shook the entire area instantly rose with loud bangs above Su Ming. The descending sword fell to pieces, and the circular wave looked as if it was a boundary line that separated the sky and earth.
"Thank you," Su Ming whispered softly.
"Su Ming, everything in Dark Mountain is a lie… but there were also some things that were real. Lei Chen was real, the elder was also real… Bai Ling, too… She also has a real side to her." Chenxin looked at Su Ming. She had a sense that if a person's entire past became a lie, that feeling of surreal would drown them like a tidal wave. It would make a person subconsciously suspect everything around them, and they would no longer be able to tell just what was real.
"You killed Beiling, so I'm pretty certain that the prodigies from the other sects who had blended into Dark Mountain and grown up with you had also died… But Su Ming, only their Divine Clones died.
"The things that happened in Dark Mountain in the past are things that occurred a long, long time ago. When we woke up from that cycle of life, we obtained quite a lot of epiphanies and serendipities and became the true prodigies of our sects.
"Right now, the ones you killed in the land of Berserkers are just the ones who were used to make sure you went through all those cycles of reincarnation repeatedly. They're Divine Clones that must exist to make you lost. Their real selves are… still in their sects in the land of Immortals. They aren't dead yet." Chenxin looked at Su Ming and told him the truth.
"Then… what about you?" Su Ming asked faintly.
"I am also a Divine Clone. I can sense my real self's mind. At the moment she saw you, I could sense the complicated feelings within her, as well as… her yearning." Chenxin's expression was full of anguish as she shook her head.
"I practiced cultivation since I was young, so the things I went through in Dark Mountain are the most vibrant memories of my life. I truly wished… that I would never wake up from that cycle of life, that I could… just keep on being in Dark Mountain…" Chenxin's face turned pale as she mumbled in her anguish. It was as if she was not talking to Su Ming, but was talking to herself after years of suppressing her own feelings.
As Chenxin mumbled under her breath, the near ten thousand Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples in the sky changed their positions rapidly. As they crossed paths with each other, they gave others the feeling that the Sword Rune in the sky had changed once again, and a wave of sword aura that was even stronger than before gathered together with a bang before it charged towards Su Ming from the sky.
"Su Ming… there are some among us who chose to forget you, but there are also some… who still remember you. They remember Dark Mountain, and growing up together within that cycle of life.
"Dark Mountain has already become a thing of the past, but it… is in your heart, and is also in our hearts." Chenxin lifted her right hand. At the instant she said these words, more blood flowed out of the corners of her lips. Her face swiftly withered away and cracks gradually appeared on her skin.
Her words reverberated in the air. When Su Ming looked at her, he saw her rapidly disappearing. Her body was like ashes at that moment.
"This Divine Clone of mine broke my oath, telling you too many truths in the land of Berserkers. This is the punishment from the oath. My Divine Clone's soul will scatter into nothingness, but they can't do anything to my real self. Su Ming… don't blame Beiling… He's no longer himself…" Chenxin whispered softly and closed her eyes. Her body turned into ashes and disappeared into the world.
Su Ming fell silent. As a slightly complicated look appeared on his face, the sword above him came charging downwards and crashed into him, but at the instant the sword aura touched Su Ming, he had lifted his left hand and seized it. With a bang, that sword aura shattered, and with Su Ming as the center, the mountain rocks under his feet crumbled as if a storm that could destroy mountains was sweeping through it. When an even more violent bang rang into the air, the remaining half of the mountain under Su Ming's feet shattered completely.
Su Ming lowered his head and looked at the sword in his hand. It was crimson red, blood covering it completely. He looked at his own clothes and hands. He could even feel an endless amount of forlorn and bitter vengeful souls around him.
They were all the Immortals that had died at his hands.
A deep wave of fatigue washed over Su Ming's heart and soul. This was not the first time this feeling of fatigue rose in him, but this time it was deeper than before.
Su Ming wanted to close his eyes, but he could not. His expression changed drastically. The fatigue in his eyes also disappeared at that moment. His breathing quickened, because... at the instant the mountain fell apart, he sensed… his second senior brother's presence!
Without any hesitation, Su Ming lifted his left hand, formed a seal, and swung his arm forward. A violent gust of wind charged forward and swept up all the crushed stones in the area to make them fall backwards. All the dust that had appeared due to the collapse scattered away, and the ground was revealed.
This was originally where Great Leaf Immortal Sect was supposed to be. At that moment, there was a ball of light that was several dozens of feet big on the ground.
The ball of light shone with five brilliant colors. There was a thin layer of fog by its edges, and within the ball of light was a black, distorted figure. The figure's face could not be seen clearly, because he no longer had a face. It was a black shadow tuft gathered together by wisps of black smoke.
There were six giant chains inside and outside the ball of light. Those six chains pierced through the ball of light and connected with the black shadow as if they had fused into his soul and were acting like something akin to a seal.
The other ends of the six chains were buried in the ground. There was a gigantic Rune on the ground. It was an incredibly complicated one, and its use was unknown, but Su Ming could tell that one of the functions of the Rune was to suppress.
It was suppressing the black shadow in the ball of light, and it even needed Great Leaf Immortal Sect's entire mountain to do so. This allowed the Rune to be able to make this ball of light contain all its presence hidden on normal days.
When Great Leaf Immortal Sect's mountain collapsed, the ball of light was revealed.
Almost at the moment anger rose in Su Ming's eyes because he saw the Rune on the ground and the ball of light, he also saw the black shadow almost collapsing as it distorted. Six wisps of black smoke with the air of death spread out from the black shadow and charged towards the Rune through the chains. This was clearly not something the black shadow was doing willingly. Those chains were absorbing it forcefully.
When those six wisps of black smoke fused into the Rune on the ground, they changed into a vast amount from spiritual aura of the world in the blink of an eye and spread out...
Su Ming let out a crazed roar towards the sky. As anger raged in his eyes, blood flowed out from them, making him look as if he was crying tears of blood. He should have been able to see earlier that the spiritual aura from the world in the region of Great Leaf Immortal Sect was much denser compared to the other regions, but he had not paid too much attention to it previously.
He did not expect that Great Leaf Immortal Sect would do something that would drive him so mad.
This was a Rune that could change a form of life into the spiritual aura in the world. Those six chains were the tubes that absorbed that form of life, and it… was the black shadow in the ball of light.
That ball of light was a seal, and the black shadow inside was the source of the familiarity Su Ming sensed. It was the reason that drove him mad.
"Second senior brother!" Su Ming's roar was hoarse from his rage and madness. Chenxin's words had originally made fatigue appear in Su Ming's heart, and he had even stopped slaughtering Great Leaf Immortal Sect's disciples.
However, when he saw his second senior brother and how he was so weakened that he was going to disappear at any moment, his killing intent surged up once again.
"Great Leaf Immortal Sect. Immortals…" Su Ming took a swift step forward and charged towards the ground. He approached the Rune on the ground in the span of a breath and lifted the sword in his right hand. The world roared from his swing, and his killing sword cut down one of the chains.
A huge rebound shot back and surged into Su Ming's body, tearing the web of his thumb. Blood filled his hand, and he took three steps backwards.
Su Ming might be moving backwards, but the chain let out a cracking sound and shattered right from its center. That chain was definitely not something ordinary. If Su Ming was not holding onto the killing sword, it would be difficult for him to destroy it.
Once one of the six chains was broken, the near ten thousand Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples in the sky cut down again, and their slashes charged down towards Su Ming. In fact, each of the disciples bit the tip of their tongues and coughed up blood that turned into a small blood-red sword due to the Sword Rune. These near ten thousand small blood-red swords were like blades raining down from the sky, and they came charging towards Su Ming while blotting out the sky behind the gigantic sword aura.
It was also at that moment that the chain broke off, and a weak voice came from the ball of light. The distorted black shadow looked as if the limits set on him had reduced slightly, and he slightly gathered together, the tuft of fog to gradually showing the shape of a body. It might still look like an illusion, but his face had become much clearer, and he showed… a pale but smiling face.
It was… Su Ming's second senior brother's face.
He seemed to have gone through inconceivable pain. That pale face was something that Su Ming had never seen on his second senior brother, yet the smile was still as gentle as it was in his memories. Second senior brother still kept his head held high as if he wanted to have sunlight shine on the side of his face. As he smiled, he looked at Su Ming.
"Youngest junior brother."
Translator's Note:
1. Snow and blood: Case of lost-in-translation. 雪 (xue3) and 血 (xue4) sound similar in Mandarin, as you can see in the brackets. So what you see is that Chenxin's blood has already fused with the snow on her face, but there are still some that hasn't, so it makes it hard to distinguish between the two, and Su Ming muses that there must be a connection between them since they sound so similar.
Chapter 716: Scratching an Itch
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There was warmth contained within that gentle smile on second senior brother's lips. It was a moment from Su Ming's memories, a memory that existed from a time long ago, and he had not seen it for a very, very long time.
His second senior brother's warm smile, his action of lifting his head and making sunlight shine on the side of his face—all of these things made Su Ming cry even more.
The scenes from the ninth summit, the man who had been as gentle as a flower, his second senior brother who had smiled at him under sunlight as he stood among grass and flowers, and the similarly smiling face that had suffered through torture in that ball of light overlapped with each other during that instant.
The whistling sword aura came charging towards Su Ming from the sky. Right behind that sword aura were the near ten thousand small blood-red swords that came towards him while blotting out the sky like rain. They stirred up violent gusts of wind that swept through the area. At the instant these sharp sword glares that looked as if they were about to cut through space itself closed in on Su Ming…
He lifted his head while weeping. He glared at the near ten thousand Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples in the sky. At that instant, there was no longer anything that could stop Su Ming's slaughter. The killing sword in his right hand let out an excited, bloodthirsty whistled, and Su Ming lifted it up. He sliced swiftly upwards in the direction of the upcoming sword aura.
With it, the world rumbled. The incoming huge sword aura instantly fell into pieces, and the small blood-red swords behind it also shattered into nothingness due to Su Ming's sword.
At the same time, the snow that was floating in the world gathered together and charged towards the Sword Rune in the sky from all directions with a loud whistle.
Su Ming would definitely not spare those Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples, but as of then, the most important thing was not to kill but to cut off all the chains around his second senior brother.
With a single move, the killing sword in his hand sliced down on the second chain. A piercing sound came from metal striking metal, and Su Ming was sent tumbling back by the rebound. When he took a few steps backwards, the second chain shattered.
Su Ming did not stop. He took a step forward and the presence of Life Cultivation circulated within him with a bang. All his power erupted from his body. He cut down once again on the third, the fourth, then the fifth chains. Under his madness, all of the chains were sliced apart.
As they shattered, second senior brother's figure rapidly gathered together from that foggy state in the ball of light. By the time the fifth chain shattered, second senior brother had already formed his body. However, his face was still pale, and there was a deep sense of weakness coming from his body. Over the years, he had been tortured by the Rune till he was near death.
Yet the smile remained on his face. Even if he was incredibly weak at the moment, he still continued smiling as he looked at Su Ming, his youngest junior brother.
He was happy because he saw Su Ming. He was proud because he noticed his strength and because Su Ming was his youngest junior brother.
"Youngest junior brother… you grew up," second senior brother said lightly. His voice came out weak from the ball of light.
Su Ming looked at his second senior brother, and memories continued surging nonstop into his head. All of the things that had happened in the past were the most precious things for him, and the things that happened at the moment became the cold chill that drove him to slaughter.
However, the chains were definitely no ordinary objects. Once he cut five of them, the rebound he suffered practically surged into the sky, causing him to open his mouth and cough up a mouthful of blood. However, there was determination and persistence in his eyes as he swiftly cut down on the final chain.
That persistence made him take a step forward without any hesitation, even if there were mountains of blades, seas of fire, or matchless ferocious fiends before him. That determined look on his face was a form of protection that came from the bottom of his heart.
'You protected me in the past. Now… I will protect you, second senior brother!'
At the instant he cut down, the near ten thousand Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples were surrounded by the endless snow as it came charging towards them. The entire sky looked as if it was about to be frozen off, but at the instant it began freezing, a low growl echoed in the sky.
"Blood Sacrifice!"
Su Ming was familiar with the person who let out that roar. He was Chenxin's father when they were still in Dark Mountain, Chen Long, the tribe leader of Dark Mountain Tribe. He was known as Chenlong now.
As he roared, Su Ming saw the eyes of the near ten thousand Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples whose lives were flowing away due to them rapidly freezing away turn instantly bloodshot. There was no longer any intelligence in their gazes. Instead, as their eyes turned empty, a crack appeared at the center of their brows.
Once it tore open, a large amount of blood gushed out, bringing with it pieces of shattered ice. As that blood gushed out, the Great Leaf Immortal Sect disciples rapidly withered away before they turned into skeletons in the blink of an eye and became ice statues that plunged down from midair.
Su Ming was not the cause of their deaths. In truth, at the instant his divine ability begun to freeze them, they were already dead. What actually killed them was Great Leaf Immortal Sect's Art. It was the Sword Rune they had formed by gathering together, and they were killed when Chenlong activated the Rune by saying those words.
Blood that filled up heaven itself spread through the sky at that instant. As it tumbled about, it gathered together into a ten thousand feet long sword that swept the sky and sliced through the air to charge towards Su Ming.
It was difficult to describe the speed of this sword as it cut downwards. When Su Ming looked over, it was still in the sky, but in truth, it was already less than a hundred feet away from him. Its extreme speed surpassed wind and cut open space. It brought with it a terrifying presence that would destroy everything that tried to block its path.
Su Ming's sword was cutting down the sixth chain at that moment. As the blood-red sword behind him charged forward with a whistle, Su Ming's pupils shrank, but he did not hesitate and swiftly cut down on the sixth chain. A clear booming sound reverberated in the air, and the chain shattered.
However, a powerful rebound surged into Su Ming's body, forcing him to take a few steps back, and he crashed into the blood-red sword with a bang.
At the instant he touched the sword, a nine-colored light erupted from Su Ming's body. This light belonged to the Five Direction Seal. It surrounded Su Ming, the ball of light, and his second senior brother before crashing into the blood-red sword.
A loud bang surged into air, shaking both the sky and earth. Under this intense noise, the screen of light formed from the Five Direction Seal shattered layer by layer before new layers could gather together. Cracks appeared on the ground beneath Su Ming's feet. They spread out, shattering the ground. In the blink of an eye, a circular area of a hundred lis under Su Ming's feet collapsed.
The nine-colored screen of light shattered at that instant, and a great impact charged in. Su Ming took a step forward without any hesitation and stood before his second senior brother. He was going to use his body to block that blood-red sword aura that was surged in.
At the time the nine-colored screen of light shattered when the blood-red sword cut into it, cracks also appeared on the sword. As the banging sounds echoed in the air and the force of the rebound from the crash surged into the sword, it shattered instantly and turned into an endless amount of shards that fell backwards.
The booming sounds turned into a lingering noise that gradually faded away. Dust flew through the area before it slowly sank down. When the world became clear once again, Su Ming coughed up blood. The ball of light behind him distorted, but his second senior brother was completely unharmed.
Because Su Ming had endured most of the blood-red sword's aura, there was not much that managed to enter the ball of light. Besides, the ball of light's own protection had prevented his second senior brother from feeling even a single hint of that aura.
However, second senior brother had seen Su Ming's act of using his body to protect him clearly. The smile remained on his face, and the warmth as well as the sentiment within it was a love between brothers!
There was no need for words of gratitude to be expressed for this, because if second senior brother was in Su Ming's place, he would have definitely done the same thing to protect his junior brother.
Once the blood-red sword shattered and turned into shards that fell backwards, those shards suddenly gathered together in midair and turned into a longsword. However, it was no longer ten thousand feet long but of normal size.
At the same time, a deep voice reverberated in the air. "For Soul Egression!"
Blood Sacrifice for Soul Egression was the name of Great Leaf Immortal Sect's Sword Rune. Blood Sacrifice was used to sacrifice all the people in the Sword Rune to turn them into a strike that could destroy the world, while Soul Egression was the strongest strike possible if Blood Sacrifice had been unable to kill its enemy.
At the instant Chenlong said those three words, his body shuddered and turned into ashes. A soul came out from his disappearing body. At the same time, the souls of the near ten thousand disciples that had been killed by the Rune appeared all around the Great Leaf Immortal Sect. They appeared in the sky with expressions of confusion and absent mindedness. All these souls gathered together rapidly and turned into a black figure.
It was thirty feet tall and had two heads. When that figure lifted one of its arms, it seized the blood-red sword, and one of its heads turned towards the sky while the other turned towards the ground, then let out roars that shook the sky and earth.
"Second senior brother, would you like to kill the ferocious spirit gathered together by all the souls of Great Leaf Immortal Sect?" Su Ming wiped away the blood at the corners of his mouth and cast a glance at the roaring two-headed figure in the sky, then looked towards his second senior brother.
"This… is good."
Second senior brother continued to smile, and Su Ming swung the sword in his hand at the ball of light. It started trembling and twisting violently before it shattered. At the moment it fell to pieces, second senior brother's body gathered together completely and he feebly walked out.
Once he walked out, green grass immediately grew, crawling out of the ground that had since become a wasteland.
When second senior brother moved to Su Ming's side, his face was as pale as ever, and that sense of weakness made Su Ming crouch down so his second senior brother could climb onto his back.
"Second senior brother, let's go together and fight against that two-headed spirit!"
Su Ming lifted his head and took a step forward with his second senior brother on his back. At the instant he took that step, the two-headed ferocious spirit looked towards Su Ming with both heads while holding the blood-red sword in its hand. With a roar, it turned into a long arc and charged towards Su Ming.
The two sides were like two shooting stars that rushed through the sky and earth respectively during that instant. Then, without any hint of attempting to dodge, they crashed into each other in midair.
With one strike, they would determine who would win and lose!
At that moment, a layer of thin clouds appeared indistinctly in the sky. Even if the sky trembled, it could not send those clouds away as they prevented anyone from seeing who was within them.
A beautiful woman was eating roasted seeds in there with a pained look on her face as she sighed.
"It cost me so dearly… It really cost me so dearly… This Su Ming actually grew so fast. If I had known about this, I would have asked for so much more from that old man."
As that girl was regretting her actions, the yellow mutt lying beside her was yawning comfortably. There were two other beings crouching next to that mutt with distressed expressions on their faces. One of them was the bald crane, and the other Qian Chen, who was currently scratching an itch on the mutt's body.
Chapter 717: The Fateful Meeting
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The strike from Blood Sacrifice for Soul Egression would cause wind and clouds to move. It would gather together to form a blood sword and a two-headed body, which moved like a shooting star that caused the ground to rumble.
It crashed into Su Ming, who was carrying his second senior brother on his back while he charged into the sky from the ground. During that instant, it was as if the sky and earth had crashed into each other, and the waves that stirred up turned into two arcs of impact that looked like the most beautiful scene in the world of Berserkers from the distance. It was enough to visibly move anyone who saw it.
During that charge, Su Ming's second senior brother let out a weak but hearty laugh as he lay on Su Ming's back. As he laughed, grass instantly filled the shattered earth, and a nice fragrance spread through the air. A gentle but sturdy presence also spread out from second senior brother's body, surrounding Su Ming.
Su Ming was like a sharp sword out of its scabbard. With second senior brother on his back, he crashed into the incoming body created from that Blood Sacrifice for Soul Egression in the sky.
This was a crash between the sky and earth. This could be said to be the top two forces in the land of Berserkers fighting against each other. As the loud rumbling sound spread out and reverberated in the air, an endless number of dimensional cracks appeared in the sky, and as the ground shattered, it turned into ashes.
A violent gust of wind with a strong force of impact was madly sweeping outwards from all directions around Su Ming. It was like a raging wave moving about, and there was no end to it.
Su Ming coughed up a mouthful of blood and retreated a hundred something feet. However, during that instant, his body was covered by a large amount of green. It was what his second senior brother's power had transformed into.
One of the heads on the two-headed body crumbled at that moment. The creature itself was sent tumbling backwards as the rumbling sounds echoed in the air. The blood-red sword in its hand also became slightly duller.
Su Ming lifted his head. Before his body had even stopped, he begun to change forward again. The killing sword in his hand shone, and he charged towards the body that had now lost one of its heads. As that body that only had one head left roared, the two of them crashed into each other again in an attempt to kill the other.
There were no divine abilities and Arts involved. Su Ming only used the killing sword and executed the four sword styles, drawing up multiple long arcs in the air. After a moment, an even greater bang resounded, and the remaining head flew into the air. It was pierced through by Su Ming's sword and exploded.
The body that was formed from the Great Leaf Immortal Sect's Rune had lost all of its heads. At that moment, as it trembled, it rapidly retreated, and right before everyone's eyes, two flesh lumps squirmed rapidly at the spot where they the heads had been before. It looked as if the body was about to regrow its heads.
"Kill all those who provoke the ninth summit!"
Blood trickled down the corners of Su Ming's mouth, but the murderous aura on his face was chilly and threatening. He took a step forward and caught up to the retreating body that was formed from the Great Leaf Immortal Sect's Rune. The killing sword in his hand sliced forward, and a giant left arm flew into the air.
Second senior brother's mirth reverberated in the air. His peals of laughter were him venting out his frustrations at being suppressed over the years, and as he laughed, his voice traveled forth.
"Youngest junior brother, you're right! We will kill all those who harmed even a single plant on ninth summit!"
As second senior brother's words rang into the air, Su Ming took a step forward again and closed in on the retreating body of the Rune. He swung the bloody sword in his hand, and the right leg of the body formed by the Rune was separated from the body.
"Kill all those in the sect of the person who harmed even a single disciple of the ninth summit!"
Freezing air spread out from Su Ming's body. He took a step forward and jumped, lifting the killing sword in his hand. Killing intent erupted in his eyes, and he cut down swiftly at the body formed from the Great Leaf Immortal Sect's Rune.
His second senior brother laughed, and a large amount of green light flowed onto Su Ming's body, then gathered on the killing sword in his hand. This slash was no longer filled with by Su Ming's power alone, but also had power from his now weakened second senior brother.
At the instant they cut forward, the body that had lost its heads, left arm, and right leg swiftly lifted his right hand and placed the sword horizontally before itself to fend against the slash delivered by the killing sword of Su Ming and his second senior brother.
A bang shot into the air. Su Ming let out a cold harrumph and his second senior brother laughed when the killing sword clashed against the blood sword. At that instant, the blood sword shattered into pieces. The killing sword shot through its remnants and cut into the body made from the Rune, slicing into the center of its flesh. When the sword sliced through it, the body made from the Rune was cut into two.
A shrill scream of pain that only souls could hear came out from the body, and it exploded. An endless amount of vengeful souls inside cried out shrilly, then started falling back in all directions.
If anyone looked upwards from the ground, this scene would be like fog spreading out in their eyes, and within that fog was an endless amount of souls from Great Leaf Immortal Sect.
A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes, but just as he was about to kill all of them, his second senior brother suddenly spoke up on his back.
"Youngest junior brother, don't kill them..."
As he spoke, his second senior brother jumped off and moved away from Su Ming's back. Then, he turned into a gigantic phantom that had two horns on his head. His body was approximately a hundred feet tall, and he was a giant that was covered head to toe in dark green.
Once the phantom appeared, second senior brother opened his mouth and sucked in a breath in the direction of the souls from Great Leaf Immortal Sect that were falling back. With it, terror appeared within those souls' shrill screams, but all of them headed towards second senior brother, unable to control themselves. In the blink of an eye, they were all devoured by second senior brother.
When all of the souls from Great Leaf Immortal Sect were devoured, the size of second senior's body instantly increased by a fold. The nearly two hundred thousand feet phantom exuded a strange presence in midair as he slowly turned his head around to look at Su Ming.
Even if he looked ferocious at the moment and eerie black smoke was coming out of his body, making him look like a malicious spirit, when he looked at Su Ming, a smile appeared on his face.
It was second senior brother's smile. When he lifted his head and smiled, he let sunlight shine on the side of his face, and he looked as if this particular act was making him really comfortable.
"This place has suppressed me for years… and they even used my body as a tool to help their disciples practice cultivation. They extracted my life without stop… That was an incredibly painful experience, and that is… no good." As second senior brother spoke, he lifted his right hand and looked at it. With a gentle smile on his lips, he slowly brought his hand downwards.
At that instant… a large amount of green rapidly filled the earth without sound, even if it had previously crumbled into pieces or even spotted huge pits in it. That green belonged to an endless amount of grass, flowers, and trees growing at a crazy speed on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the ground that was once part of Great Leaf Immortal Sect became a forest that was filled with blooming flowers, green grass, and lush trees.
Everything within a circular area of ten thousand lis had turned into forest.
Waves of refreshing air spread out. Second senior brother sucked in a deep breath and his body slowly shrank until he eventually turned back into the man who was as gentle as a flower. He was dressed in white and was standing in front of Su Ming as he smiled.
Su Ming looked at his second senior brother and at the smile from his memories. To him, it did not matter whether his second senior brother was a person or a phantom. He… was still his second senior brother.
"Second senior brother." A smile appeared on Su Ming's face. This was a smile that was completely unrestrained and came from the bottom of his heart, a smile that had not appeared on his face since a long time ago.
"Youngest junior brother, you've suffered during these years. I didn't manage to find Master here, but I was able to gather some clues. I think, for some unknown reason and with some unknown method, Master has… left the land of Berserkers," second senior brother said in a soft voice. His face was still slightly pale, a telling sign that he could not rapidly recover from the harm done to him over the years by Great Leaf Immortal Sect.
"Right now, we're the only ones left. I've asked Hu Zi to stay in the ninth summit. Have you gone back?"
Su Ming nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly frowned and lifted his head to look at the sky, then narrowed his eyes slightly. A glint appeared in second senior brother's eyes, and he also lifted his head.
At that moment, the sky looked as if it was void of clouds, but in truth, there was a cloud hiding up ahead. The beautiful woman munching on roasted seeds widened her eyes. She had seen the entire process of Su Ming fighting the two-headed ghost. After a moment, she patted her slightly filled chest and sighed deeply.
"I really suffered a huge loss this time…" The woman lifted her hand and grabbed the mutt's head.
The mutt winced in pain, but did not dare say much. It had heard of the woman's fearsome reputation when it was in the Emperor of Abyss' World. She was an existence that gave many living souls in the Emperor of Abyss' World a headache, and she was completely unreasonable.
It had suffered a lot during this trip, and even though this had nothing to do with anything, the mutt could still not escape her hands… As it winced, it glared at Qian Chen and the bald crane before it let out a growl, scaring the bald crane so much that it immediately put on a look of flattery. Qian Chen shuddered a little.
However, almost at the moment the bald crane put on that expression of flattery, the mutt bit down on the crane's body. When it saw the bird's expression changing to one of pain, it felt its emotions balancing out slightly.
Qian Chen shuddered even more violently. Terror appeared in his eyes. He just saw that beautiful woman terrorizing the mutt, and that mutt then terrorizing the bald crane, and he was...
As it shuddered, the bald crane lifted its head and glared at Qian Chen, then lifted its wing and smacked him on the head, and because the mutt's bite was too painful, it smacked Qian Chen a few more times until he also showed pain on his face. Only then did it feel emotionally balanced.
Qian Chen put on a glum face and looked around him, but he could not find anyone that could become his target and let him vent his frustration, so he lowered his head and looked as if he was on the verge of crying.
As the crowd in the sky terrorized one after another, Su Ming's cold voice came up to them.
"You've been tagging behind me all along. For how long do you still intend to hide?"
Su Ming's voice fell into Qian Chen's ears, causing him to become so excited that he looked as if he had heard his own relative's voice. As for the bald crane, it moved its eyes about, though no one knew exactly what it was thinking.
The mutt rolled its eyes. Just as it was about to look over, the woman beside it stood up and placed her hands behind her back, which gave her an adorable air, but the surprise on her face showed that she had not expected that Su Ming would be able to notice her presence.
She coughed lightly, then with a beautiful, adorable, naive look that gave her an impression of a small white rabbit, she walked out of the cloud that had hid her in the sky.
Chapter 718: Marriage…
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a sight difficult to forget, one where a beautiful woman placed her hands behind her back as she revealed her beautiful figure in the sky. With a red blush that made it seem that she was slightly shy, she walked down with light footsteps.
Her waist was incredibly slim, her light green long dress hiding away her slender figure. There were some light red stars sewn on her sleeves, as well as some auspicious clouds [1] that were embroidered with silver threads. Her sparkling eyes contained hints of bashfulness, as if they were the waters of spring. As they shone, the crystalline pearls hanging below the phoenix hairpin on her head swayed slightly.
The pearls were shining brilliantly under the sunlight, but they did not manage to cover up even a single bit of the woman's beauty. Instead, they became a foil to her, bringing her beauty out so that she seemed breathtaking. Anyone who saw her would be left shocked.
Her soft and supple face was like a beautiful flower, and when she walked, the wind blew her dark locks, causing her to lift up her right hand. Her fingers were long and white, and her action of lifting up her hair as well as that bashful gaze made her a sight that would move hearts if she frowned or smiled.
"I, Yu Xuan, greet big brother Su." The beautiful girl gradually approached the two people below, and when she was a hundred something feet away from Su Ming, she bent her body slightly. A light fragrance drifted through the air towards him. It was a scent that would enter straight into people's hearts once they smelled it.
There was a yellow mutt behind the woman, and it was running and skipping to follow behind her. When it stuck out its tongue, saliva fell down. Right behind that mutt was an excited Qian Chen. He looked as if he was on the verge of crying. Tears lingered in his eyes as he looked at Su Ming.
There was also an old man that was actually the bald crane at the very end of the group, walking as if he was a creep. He was rubbing his hands, and even though there was not an ounce of dignity in him, he still put on a nonchalant and sage-like air. The visual impact that was caused by his expression and his manner of walking… was… something that a mortal could not understand.
This might be the first time Su Ming saw the old man, but the thick presence of a creep about him and the solemn expression on his face made it absolutely clear who it was. There was no one else in the entire land of Berserkers who could fuse these two complicated airs together and feel proud of it.
When Su Ming looked at the mutt, a barely discernible glint appeared in his eyes. He shifted his gaze back to the woman. He had to say that she was definitely the most beautiful of all the women he had seen. It did not matter whether it was her face, her temperament, or that bashful look on her face—no woman could compare to her.
Yet for some unknown reason, when Su Ming saw her, he felt as if there was a sharp needle hidden in her body. If anyone carelessly touched it, they would immediately be pierced, and that needle seemed to contain a poison that could kill.
While Su Ming looked at the woman, she, too, was sizing him up. At the moment their gazes met, the woman smiled shyly and lowered her head, casually avoiding Su Ming's gaze.
Su Ming's second senior brother let out a fake cough by his side. He lifted his head, instinctively moving the side of his face towards the sun, then seemed to think that this was slightly inappropriate and let out another fake cough and showed a gentle smile towards the woman.
"Little girl, when are you going to get married to my youngest junior brother?"
His words were spoken too suddenly and the meaning behind them was too unexpected. This manner of speech that did not follow any sort of logical conventions not only stunned Su Ming stunned but also made the woman who was pretending to be embarrassed widen her eyes. The shy look on her face disappeared instantly.
Even the mutt by the side forgot to retrieve its tongue after it opened its mouth. A large amount of saliva fell out…
The bald crane sucked in a breath and stared at Su Ming's second senior brother with a look as if he was looking at a senior and a veteran. As for Qian Chen, he was completely stunned.
Everything around them immediately fell silent at that moment. Only second senior brother continued smiling gently with a face that looked as if he was completely harmless. His act of having the sun shine on the side of his face and his occasional shift in posture caused the atmosphere to remain silent for some time.
"Second senior brother, I-I don't know her." Su Ming laughed wryly and instinctively pinched the center of his brows.
"Nonsense. If you didn't know her, how could she know your name? Youngest junior brother, when you left the ninth summit, Master had me, Hu Zi, and your eldest senior brother gather together to talk about this greatest event in your life. We discussed this for three days and nights, you know? And it was all about your marriage. Now, the heavens had opened their eyes. I didn't expect you to be so good, youngest junior brother. You actually have such a beautiful girl coming after you by her own accord.
"Ah, your second senior brother is such a pitiful person. I have such unparalleled beauty and talent, such attractive gracefulness, such… Err, that's used to describe a woman, isn't it?" second senior brother muttered, blinking a few extra times.
"Se-Second senior brother… I-I don't know him either…"
The beautiful woman stared at Su Ming's second senior brother with a wide-eyed look for some time before she quickly spoke up and even instinctively took a few steps back. She had a feeling that this second senior brother was simply too terrifying.
The fright he gave her was even worse than what the Emperor of Abyss had managed. That man had also asked someone to be a matchmaker, wanting her to marry third prince, but Su Ming's second senior brother had actually said these things right at their first meeting, and he even put on a look as if this was completely expected. The woman felt that she just could not grasp what he was thinking.
This manner of speech that did not follow any logical conventions made Su Ming laugh wryly and the woman instinctively back off, but the bald crane's eyes started shining at them. He was practically looking at Su Ming's second senior brother in an idolizing manner while he mumbled nonstop in his heart.
'I got it. Damn, so you can actually speak in this way? I've run into a veteran today. Looks like I'll have to learn how to speak this way in the future. This is a true veteran. This is what it means to be unfathomable. This is an even greater state of intimidating others.'
"So, you really don't know each other? Well, it doesn't matter. Now you know each other. Little girl, look at my youngest junior brother, isn't he of such unparalleled beauty and talent, such attractive gracefulness, such… Well, just look at how good he is. How about this? I'll take matters to hand today and bear witness to your marriage. From now on, you'll be his wife," second senior brother said gently. He might be talking a lot, but his words were not fast but neither were they slow. There was even a faint holy glint in his eyes.
"It's settled then. Little girl, your name is Yu Xuan, right? We won't be taking much of your dowry. As for that… you can just give us that mutt of yours. It looks pretty good, seems like the sort that could guard a house. Also, if you have any other sisters, do remember to introduce them to me." Second senior brother looked at the mutt in a manner as if it was already a possession of his.
Once the mutt met eyes with Su Ming's second senior brother, it shuddered and quickly took a few steps back, then bared its teeth at him and started growling.
"Madam, why exactly have you been following me all this way?" Su Ming laughed wryly in his heart and simply allowed his second senior brother to continue trying to persuade him. He knew well that his second senior brother was definitely not someone who did things randomly. There had to be some reason as to why he was behaving this way. Perhaps he had seen something.
After all, the method the woman had used to hide herself was incredibly strange. Su Ming had not noticed her earlier on. Only during the wave of impact that had been stirred up by the body of the Rune had he noticed a slight abnormally in that region in the sky and sensed the faint presences of two familiar ripples of power.
Those ripples of power came from the bald crane and Qian Chen, and only then did he notice the whole party.
A thought bloomed in the woman's head once she heard Su Ming's words. Her bashful demeanor and the air of the rich had disappeared due to the continuous bombardment of words by second senior brother. At that moment, there was a mischievous air about her. Her huge sparkling eyes made it seem that another idea would appear in her head every single time she blinked.
While she still looked as incredibly beautiful as ever, she currently looked more like a little fox.
Su Ming frowned. The feeling as if there was a sharp needle hidden in her was becoming stronger, and her presence was incredibly strange. This was not an Immortal's cultivation, and neither was it a Berserkers' Qi. Instead, there was an aura in her that was rather similar to the aura of death, but it was a different from it as well.
That ripple made Su Ming feel as if his soul was being drawn out, as if a small part of it was going to spread out and head towards the woman.
This strange matter caused Su Ming to become even more wary of her. He cast the woman a profound look and did not continue to ask her why she knew about him. Instead, he cast his gaze towards Qian Chen and the bald crane.
"Come back!" Su Ming let out a cold harrumph.
Qian Chen immediately grew excited. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly turned into a long arc and flew to Su Ming. He was teary-eyed and looked as if he was about to grab Su Ming's sleeve and bawl, a clear sign that the things he had suffered during the past few days had been incredibly tragic, and it was so tragic that it made a person who originally did not know how to fly learn how to do so…
When the bald crane saw Qian Chen leaving safely, he, too, quietly took a few steps forward before increasing his speed and charging towards Su Ming. When he arrived next to him, he let out a huge sigh of relief in his heart, and his face turned back into that smug and overbearing look once again.
"Let's go, second senior brother."
Su Ming looked at his second senior brother and slowly moved back. The feeling the woman gave him was simply too strange, and with his current level of cultivation, Su Ming could sense that there was an incredibly powerful might contained within that mutt.
At that moment, there were hundreds of long arcs charging towards them from the area behind Su Ming. They were Fated Kin that had been told to wait. Once they saw Great Leaf Immortal Sect crumbling, they rushed over due to their worry for Su Ming.
"You… Hmph, what reason would I have to follow you? That's right, I've been following you all this while, but if it wasn't for me, then you would have died when you were fighting against Di Tian in the Dead Sea? You wouldn't have been able to leave so easily. If it wasn't for me, you would have died a long time ago." Some unknown thought rose in the woman's heart. As she looked at Su Ming, she spoke with a clear voice and with a tone tinged with anger. "You… You ungrateful bastard!"
When Su Ming heard those words, his gaze gained a focused edge.
"Haha, so that's how it is! And you were saying you don't know him? Miss Yu Xuan, I can tell now, you fell in love with my youngest junior brother a long time ago. The marriage is settled then for sure." Su Ming's second senior brother smiled faintly, then narrowed his eyes and looked towards the woman.
"I'll listen to you, second senior brother." Once the woman cast a glance at Su Ming, that embarrassed look appeared again on her face. She lowered her head and spoke softly, but she was mumbling smugly in her heart.
'Hmph, I suffered a huge loss when I sold Su Ming. I'll have to stay by his side. When those two old coots come here, I'll take a huge chunk out of their purses. There's no way I'll take any losses when I conduct my business.'
"Second senior brother…" Su Ming smiled wryly.
"Youngest junior brother, this woman is not bad. She's not bad at all." His second senior brother smiled. Once he looked at the mutt, he nodded towards Su Ming in a profound manner.
Translator's Notes:
1. Auspicious clouds: Represents heaven and good luck, since cloud (yun2) sounds almost the same as fortune (yun4) in Chinese.